JUSTICE, Ill. — It’s one thing to talk the talk, but Vikram Choudary walks the walk with his patients — literally. And that includes strutting down the red carpet with his clients, all of whom have limb loss, during the fashion show he hosts for them each year.
From a sweet preschooler to those who are much older, people of all ages with prosthetics look forward to feeling beautiful and showing it off. They live in a society that may not always look beyond the physical, and this gives them a chance to shine.
The president of Quantum Prosthetics in Justice, Illinois, Choudary does more for his clients than just give them mobility, which is life-changing in itself. He tells them that he’ll always be with them on their lifelong journey adjusting to limb loss; clients say he keeps his promise.
Miguel recalls the time he had a problem and didn’t know that Choudary was on vacation. Choudary picked up the phone from Dubai and solved Miguel’s discomfort issue.
Born in a small village in India, as a child Choudary witnessed the result of what terror attacks and landmines did to his neighbors. He also observed his surgeon father becoming a folk hero, treating people with compassion when many had few resources to repay him.
Choudary has come to the aid of some clients without insurance or whose insurance had run out. He helps clients fight to get their prosthetics covered, oftentimes when it means battling for years.
Always trying to connect personally with his clients (he says adapting to a prosthetic is 90 percent mental), Choudary encouraged a teenager to design her own prosthetic arm. It gave her both pride and ownership in her electronic arm.
When starting his prosthetic business, his professional goal was to hire employees who suffered limb loss so that clients could relate and feel comfortable.
Jerry is a patient care coordinator who lost his legs when he was pinned between two cars.
He talks about how his challenge and his success as a survivor serve as a comfort to those who are also adapting to living with a prosthetic.
